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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has received a $335,309 grant from
the National Science Foundation to expand biomechanical instrumentation for
undergraduate research projects in orthopedics that could lead to the
development of improved, cost effective design alternatives for knee and
hip implants.
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Faculty/Student Learning: Renee Rogge, associate professor of applied
biology and biomedical engineering (right on table), and Scott Small,
engineering director for the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory
(top right), work with undergraduate and graduate students on a variety of
orthopedic research projects each school year. |
The projects are being conducted through a partnership with Rose-Hulman’s
Department of Applied Biology and Biomedical Engineering and the Joint
Replacement Surgeons of Indiana Research Foundation based at the Center
for Hip & Knee Surgery in Mooresville, Ind.
The three-year grant is part of the NSF’s major research instrumentation
program, which strives to increase access to shared scientific and
engineering instruments for research and research training at U.S.
colleges and universities, museums, science centers and not-for-profit
organizations.
The new equipment will provide Rose-Hulman’s Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory a physiological loading and response measurement
system to benefit research and training activities in orthopedic
biomechanics and materials engineering. Specifically, the instruments
will allow students, faculty and staff members to accurately apply
physiological loading to cadaveric specimens implanted with orthopedic
devices, and to precisely examine the mechanical conditions related to
clinically observed failure of the implanted devices and tissue
specimens.
Leading this initiative will be Christine Buckley and Renee Rogge,
associate professors of applied biology and biomedical engineering, and
Scott Small, engineering director for the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory, and Joint Replacement Surgeons of Indiana
Research (JRSI) Foundation orthopedic surgeons Michael Berend, Merrill
Ritter, Rob Malinzak and John Meding.
The instrumentation system features a servohydraulic materials testing
machine with dynamic pressure and strain acquisition instrumentation.
The equipment will provide the validated study of hip and knee
prosthesis design and its effect on the mechanical response and
interactions between bone and implant.
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How The Body Works: State-of-the-art equipment in the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory allows Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students and faculty to examine physiological loading to cadaveric specimens implanted with orthopedic devices. |
Since 2004, Rose-Hulman faculty and students have worked closely with
the JRSI Foundation to provide quality research experiences to
undergraduate and master’s degree biomedical and mechanical engineering
students. This collaboration promotes the direct application of
engineering principles to the study of surgical technique and device
failure mechanisms which JRSI clinicians have observed in their patient
database of 17,000 knee and 11,000 hip replacements.
Students working in the Rose-Hulman’s Orthopedic Biomechanics
Laboratory have used composite bone specimens in uniaxial loading models
to examine the effects of prosthesis size, design, material and surgical
alignment on implant survivability following hip and knee replacement in
static, axial loading scenarios. Research projects have characterized
conforming articular designs, utilization of metal tibial components,
and proper component size matching as elements which decrease peak
tibial loading associated with failure of knee replacements. Students,
faculty and JRSI Foundation surgeons have also examined cementless
acetabular cup design and screw location on initial stability following
hip replacement surgery. Also, medical imaging and specimen-specific
computational modeling have been integrated into the research projects.
The new equipment for the laboratory will allow Rose-Hulman students to
expand upon previous work in an effort to more fully quantify the
interaction between orthopedic devices and biological specimen.
Rose-Hulman’s collaboration with JRSI strives to define the mechanical
factors which lead to implant failure in joint replacement. These
important findings will be shared with the engineering and orthopedic
communities through journal publications and conference proceedings.
Nine research manuscripts directly from the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory have been published or accepted for publication
in peer reviewed medical or engineering journals, all of which have been
co-authored by Rose-Hulman undergraduate or graduate students. The
program also hopes to recruit, train and encourage students, with
emphasis toward females and minorities, towards careers in orthopedics
through engineering research, clinical exposure and device design.
About Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Founded in 1874, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is located on a
200-acre campus just east of Terre Haute, Ind. The college offers a
rigorous, hands-on education that stresses development of technical and
interpersonal skills in an environment characterized by close personal
attention for every student. The college has an enrollment of 1,900
undergraduate students and 100 graduate students. Degree programs are
offered in applied biology, biochemistry, biomedical engineering,
chemical engineering, chemistry, civil engineering, computer
engineering, computer science, economics, electrical engineering,
engineering physics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, optical
engineering, physics and software engineering.
For 12 consecutive years, Rose-Hulman has been rated the top
undergraduate engineering college in the nation that offers the
bachelor's or master's degree as its top degree in engineering. The
ranking is based on a national survey of deans and senior faculty
conducted by U.S. News & World Report for its annual college guidebook.
About the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory
The Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory is a collaboration
between Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and the Joint Replacement
Surgeons of Indiana Research Foundation, based at the Center for Hip &
Knee Surgery in Mooresville, Ind. The program was established to provide
undergraduate and graduate engineering students at Rose-Hulman with
valuable research opportunities in the field of orthopedics.
Collaboration began in 2004 with a generous gift from 1948 Rose-Hulman
alumnus Howard Freers and the sponsorship of two biomedical engineering
masters theses. Since then, eight master’s thesis and numerous
undergraduate research projects have been conducted in the laboratory,
resulting in multiple conference presentations and peer reviewed journal
publications. Laboratory space is utilized in the John T. Myers Center
for Technological Research with Industry on campus. In 2007, JRSI
Research Foundation and Rose-Hulman expanded the collaboration by hiring
a full-time engineering director to oversee research efforts at Rose-Hulman.
About the Joint Replacement Surgeons of Indiana Research Foundation
The Joint Replacement Surgeons of Indiana (JRSI) Research Foundation is
committed to clinical and biomedical research in the field of
orthopedics. The mission of the foundation is to foster the advancement
of hip and knee replacement surgical procedures, implants and
survivorship in order to improve the long-term function and well-being
of the patients who suffer from debilitating arthritis and associated
disorders. A total of over 400 peer reviewed journal articles have been
published by researchers affiliated with JRSI in the last 20 years. Find
out more at
www.rose-hulman.edu/jrsi.
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